Breathing

One of my areas of interest as a trombone professor and performer is breathing. Having been a guest clinician on “breathing for musicians” at more than two dozen universities and conservatories, I continue to enjoy this aspect of research. My approach has been to try to be perhaps a little more scientifically and academically rigorous than musicians have been in the past when dealing with this subject. In the above two articles, for example, I have documented as extensively as possible with mainstream medical sources. While a surprising amount of what is taught about breathing in the music field appears to be based on a kind of folk physiology, I do not maintain that our pedagogical traditions in music are entirely without merit; rather, my point is that there are fields, after all, where people study, dissect, test, quantify, publish, re-test, and otherwise work objectively with breathing mechanics every day. There has to be at least something we can learn from them!

Also see my blog for various posts and updates on the subject of breathing for musicians.

•Comments are welcome–please contact at will.kimball@byu.edu.

•To book Will Kimball for a breathing clinic, please contact at will.kimball@byu.edu.